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Flounder

Back in the day, you could
feel the chill to the bone as we were out for doormats, as we poled
along with twin propane lights bow mounted, in a search for those big
boys that brought in the bucks. Poling, was a style developed by the
commercial fishers that caught on in the recreational arena and is
the norm now in floating the skinny without the use of a trolling
motor. Fact is, back in the early eighties, they were hardly heard of
unless you were on the Bass trail. We used a long, mahogany pole of
twenty feet long and three or four inches round, to the end of it was
attached a potato rake, flattened out to form a gig type apparatus.
Neptune’s pitch fork on a twenty foot rod made for a perfect poling
to gigging rod when in search of big flat fatties, flounder. Those
were a reflection on how I really started angling for these fat, flat
fish. Two of us would be in our Banana Boat, called such as flat
boats did not really exist then so we built replicas of these South
American boats used to navigate shallow waters but were heavy enough
to handle a moderately heavy sea if it had too. One would pole in the
bow of the boat and upon spotting a flounder, it was gigged and
thrown back into the bottom of the boat as the other guy would place
the flounder in a holding box or ice chest. Reliving each after an
hour or so all night long, from dusk until dawn. While sitting on the
gunnels of the stern, one usually had a rod and reel, as we were out
to get flounder and its boring waiting your turn up on the bow. Funny
thing was, after have an hour of pole gigging, you couldn't wait to
get back to the stern and watch the trolling rods. We generally
rigged two rods with light wire hooked jigs on a fifth pound test
piece of mono as our leader and attached either a strip of cut bait
to them.

On the other we rigged it
with a fish-finder-style
bottom rig. Both rigs were inshore bottom bouncing rigs, covering a
lot of water and probably caught just as many flounder as the giggly
on the bow. Problem, if you hung up, you broke off because there was
now stopping and a lot of coastal hugging. So you spent time either
re-rigging or taking fish off the hooks or re-baiting with either
more eels or live Mud-minnows. As the sun rose and broke the horizon,
came the dreaded time as we worked our way back to the camp, turns
were taken cleaning the flatters. A cleaned fish at the market could,
depending on the fish, almost double the price per pound paid. We
made a whole bunch of crabs happy on the return trip, as we used the
discards in our traps, to which we would check later that day before
getting a few hours of needed shuteye. I still use the same
techniques today, as I fish, rod & reel, as a recreational
angler, in search of Florida flounder's.

There
are many kinds of rigs used by the dedicated angler, but all retain
one attribute: They get baits down to the bottom, where flounder
chew. If a bait does not find bottom, chances are a flounder will
never see it, much less inhale it.

Several
factors deserve consideration when selecting flounder rigs. Water
depth, current and bottom terrain are three significant variables.
Bait size also plays a role. It takes more weight to drag larger
baits, as silver mullet, Pin fish and Croaks, to the depths. However,
a fine line exists. Baits need to move freely across submerged
terrain, not hold fast, over weighted, in one spot. Too much lead
decreases strikes as much as using too little.

Veteran
flounder fishermen know success depends on terminal rigging. There
are many kinds of rigs used by the dedicated angler, but all retain
one attribute: They get baits down to the bottom, where flounder
chew. If a bait does not find bottom, chances are a flounder will
never see it, much less inhale it.

A simple
and effective live-bait flounder rig is the jig-head. With various
weights and hook sizes, jig-heads make good everyday bait carriers.
Simply pin your bait through the lips, toss it up-current and let the
lead-head sink your living into the zone. Nothing could be easier.

All types
of jig-heads do the job, but some do it better than others. I stick
with lead-heads equipped with light wire hooks. These thin-diameter
hooks usually find something to grab between a flounder's sharp
dentures. Jig-head color can spell the difference between banner and
mediocre fishing. Brightly hued heads amplify flash. Chartreuse, red
and orange are good choices. Opt for chartreuse in clear water. Go
with red or orange in dark, tannin-stained or brackish water. The
glitter-filled TerrorEyz jig-heads from D.O.A. lures consistently
entice flatfish when baited with mud minnows.

Jigs work
best with smaller baits. Live shrimp, small finger mullet and mud
minnows (killifish to y'all hailing from north of the Mason-Dixon
line) make excellent jig-head baits. For added attraction, try
leaving the plastic tail on your jig in conjunction with live bait.
Tails provide extra action and often invite a second shot if a
flounder steals your live. One Mud minnows and chartreuse tails make
perfect companions. This combo remains one of my favorites.

Baits
pinned on lead heads offer distinct advantages for anglers pursuing
flounder in slow current, shallow water and around oyster bars. Lead
head rigs allow constant, direct contact with the live bait. The
slightest bait movements and subtle telltale flounder taps telegraph
instantly up the line to the rod tip. Remember, when flounder fishing
you must "feel" your bait to distinguish hits. Work
leadhead flounder baits around docks, eddies and shoreline structure
for best results. Flounder Ponders

Jig-head
baits do have some drawbacks. Perhaps the most disconcerting is a
tendency for flounder to "taste" the lead and spit the hook
before the set. This happens almost every time a flounder mouths a
jig-fished bait for too long. They're also tough to fish in strong
current and depths over six feet. Once you need more than a 3/8-ounce
jig-head, it's time to switch to a different rig.

As the sun rose and broke the horizon,
came the dreaded time as we worked our way back to the camp, turns
were taken cleaning the flatters. A cleaned fish at the market could,
depending on the fish, almost double the price per pound paid. We
made a whole bunch of crabs happy on the return trip, as we used the
discards in our traps, to which we would check later that day before
getting a few hours of needed shuteye. I still use the same
techniques today, as I fish, rod & reel, as a recreational
angler, in search of Florida flounder's.